This guide provides an overview of how the Articles for Deletion (AfD) process works, how to vote, and key policies that are important to understand.

AfD is a process for deciding whether an article should be kept or deleted from Wikipedia. Discussions take place on the here, and contributors can weigh in with their opinions.

AfD is not a vote, but rather a discussion with the goal of obtaining WP:CONSENSUS on what to do. In computer programming the exclamation mark, !, means "not", so we call contributing to an AfD !voting - because you are not voting, but instead sharing your opinion.

To participate in an AfD discussion:

1. Find an AfD to comment on. You can see which discussions are created today by going to WP:AFDTODAY.

2. Click on the "view AfD" next to the AfD you want to contribute to.

3. Press edit source, and add your opinion (keep or delete) to the bottom of the page using the format:

  * '''Keep''' - [your reason]
  * '''Delete''' - [your reason]

4. Sign your vote by adding four tildes (~~~~) at the end of your comment.

5. Publish your vote! Thanks for helping out!

While an article can be kept as is, or deleted, there's more we can do at AfD!

You can also suggest that an article be:

• Draftified - allowing the creator more time to work on it
• Redirected - making clicking or searching for the article take you to a different article
• Merged - including the article's content in a different article.

It's important to use Wikipedia's guidelines to re-enforce your votes. Here's a summary of the ones that come up the most in AfD discussions:

• WP:GNG (General Notability Guidelines): If there's is no significant coverage in reliable sources, that are independent of the subject, then the subject shouldn't have a article.
• WP:SIGCOV (Significant Coverage): a source offers significant coverage of the subject if it addresses the topic in detail - not just a passing or trivial mention.
• WP:NEWSORG (Reliability of a News Source): A news source is reliable if there's evidence of editorial oversight or an editing team on the website. There should also be evidence that it engages in fact-checking and has a reputation for accuracy, the publication of corrections and disclosures of conflicts of interest.

Participating in AfD can be daunting, but understanding the process and key policies can make it easier. Your contributions are valuable, and every opinion counts in the discussion!

Feel free to reach out for help to the users below if you're unsure about anything!

Feel free to add yourself to the list if you are okay with helping new users get a hang of AfD!

• User:MolecularPilot - leave me a message here :)